Word of Wolves
by Novoux
Summary: Cesare has fallen quiet. All word of his future plans have turned to dust and leads turn up empty. Ezio is concerned as to Cesare's next moves, but the dictator has seeminly fallen from the face of Rome. After narrowly preventing the murder of a vendor, Ezio is involved in something more than a simple retrieval task involving secret documents and a thief who looks like an Assassin.


Early morning of Rome chirped with the fresh cries of birds not yet in flight but bathing in the slow-rising sunlight. Whispers of soft, fatigue-colored peasant shoes in dry hues of sand murmured from the dirty cobblestone streets while the heavy clunking of steel boots from the patrol guard units drowned the scurrying scrapes of soft-soled shoes quickly changing direction and moving away from the loud scrapes. Overhead the skies filled with drowsy orange and pink clouds reflected by gentle rays of the yawning sun. Sounds of food stalls rising from piles of wood and nails accompanied the warm scent of spiced and sweet breads baking from several standing bakeries in the familiar waltz of a newborn Sunday morning.

The church bells had begun to ring at the beginning of each hour to signal the urgency of all holy folk to congregate and praise the Lord while atoning for their sins from the past week. Sermons fresh from ink and quill would be given with intense vigor with each priest giving his testimony and the word of the Lord to the sinners to ultimately save them from salvation. While there were many believers who flocked together to pray in church, Ezio Auditore was not one of them. He, like many other dwellers of Rome who dared not get involved in the manner of the Catholic Church, kept to himself and his face hidden under his white hood while others in moderately colored but eager to impress colors continued on their own paths. Although he was raised with Catholicism, adulthood found him unable to reason and follow a faith so blindly in a life such as his. Besides, everything was controlled by man and the Church was no different.

Sunday mornings, however, were a sort of ritual in his life he often made a point to upkeep. While his sister would smile and laugh at his dedication, she could understand the need for escape. Claudia worked dutifully as a brothel owner, taking charge of her own business while also managing accounts for the Assassin Order and often spent days and nights doing her work. Ezio had found the urge to apologize and offer assistance with each Sunday morning he came to her, but she would only find the gesture unnecessary and assure him of her capabilities. Claudia took after her mother only in her sure-headed stubbornness besides her inherited beauty. However she had a personality composed of her father and her own wild nature no man could contain. Sunday mornings were times where Ezio could visit with Claudia and speak of the past happenings and to remove himself from his position with lives bearing weight on his worn shoulders.

Claudia preferred Sunday mornings: they were much quieter than any other day in the week, had no customers—hung over or not—to shoo away, and the once religious part of her had morphed the unspent hours of the morning into her own personal time. Ezio happened to be fortunate in the regard that he could in fact visit his sister when she allowed herself to relax. Claudia enjoyed her personal time with justified selfish vigor, but she loved her older brother and while it was not something often refreshed, it was expressed in the simplest of gestures which included visiting with her brother.

La Rosa in Fiore was a sleepy bud of a flower in the young morning. No wasps of men to buzz around callously and grope at the sweet women, especially those that had imbibed in alcohol the night before and hung like damp corpses unable to brave the harsh sunlight but able to harass the delicate ladies in bloom. And like the roses they were in there seductive-colored clothing, the women had thorns as sharp as their beauty. Thankfully this morning was a Sunday and those with less than savory intentions were at church, praying for mercy on their vile souls.

Approaching the doors to the brothel, Ezio stopped, using his peripheral vision to check for any straying eyes that had no purpose of setting their view upon the secretive brothel. Once clear of any misguided or gossips that may have been lurking, Ezio knocked twice, then allowing himself in and shutting the door behind himself.

"Master Ezio, how lovely it is to have you to accompany us." A courtesan with blazing red hair loose down her back and in eye-catching garments smiled with a painted face, walking over to him. Ezio tilted his head politely in greeting, noticing the ugly purple flesh almost completely hidden by extra layers of makeup over her left eye.

"Is Madame Claudia here, Madonna?" he asked with a suggestive undertone when he addressed her and her smile had loss some of its forced brightness behind it. She most likely did welcome him in a mannerly way and was clearly respectably for a courtesan, but she simply had too many problems of her own to fill her part as a flirtatious wanton to any man to be her customer. A shame, considering that she indeed was a beautiful rose with one too many petals torn from careless hands.

The fiery woman extended her hand and he met it with a kiss to the knuckles "The Madame is in her office. Can I do anything else for you, Maestro?" she giggled and ran her fingers over his knuckles.

"No, my lady. My company with the Madame shall do for now." she nodded with the barest hint of gratitude shown in her graceful features at the lack of request for service requiring her body and silently excused herself to her rooms. Ezio watched her ascend the stairs with her heels clicking faintly against the old wood. Surprised and disappointed murmurs of ladies in waiting above wafted down as one of their own returned to them without the famous Auditore.

Ezio rapped his knuckles gently on the elaborately carved doors to Claudia's office. "May I come in? Or shall I come another day?" he asked teasingly to the woman behind the door who cursed him as an imp before calling back to him.

"Come in, come in. I've got nothing to do this morning but speak to you." she spoke with her own spark of impish humor to match her brother's. "Do hurry now, I've been sitting upon files and files of documents for your Order, just for you to be able to visit me now. I'd like to have a conversation with you while the day has yet to kill another man." The door clicked open as the knob turned and a young woman came to the eyes of Ezio with a playfully stern visage.

"From the sound of your voice and the distasteful expression upon your lovely face, I would have assumed you would not be so inclined to wait for my next visit. Do you detest my very presence?" Claudia rolled her eyes at the drama her brother often used in his twisted sense of humor.

"You bore me with your petty dramas, Ezio, have you no sense of manhood or have you lost it playing assassin?" her witty reply made him smirk. "'Dost thou detest me? For it is I, Ezio and you have disgraced our family's dignity by commenting on my immaturity!'" he chuckled fondly and she found herself sharing an amused smirk.

"You're still the same, Claudia. I can't believe that you have grown into a young woman from the little girl you used to be, but your appearance convinces me otherwise. You're much more developed from your days as a dutiful little girl who begged to play with me when mother wasn't watching." she laughed, raising a dark eyebrow in a questioning stance.

"Oh, but you haven't changed at all, Ezio." Claudia stepped toward him, eying him, "you still act like the romantically frustrated boy you've always been; always wanting the attention of another woman after you charmed the last into your bed to feed your appetite. Do you ever tire of it?" Only Claudia could be a pretty young woman with a charming smile and a snarky wit about her. However she was an Auditore, and wit happened to be an inherited trait on his mother's side. How his father could have stood for such an outspoken woman he would never understand the reasoning behind it.

"It is good to see you, Claudia." Ezio spoke sincerely, and the witty smile faded into a genuine one on Claudia's face that always made the corners of her eyes crinkle. She hugged him tightly, expressing the days of absence and loneliness where she at times felt he would not visit her again from his line of work. He returned the embrace with the same feeling and allowed himself to drop his front of sarcasm to reconnect with his sister again.

"It's good to see you as well, Ezio." Claudia pulled away from him, stepping back and then meeting his eyes again. "What have you been up to while I've been doing all this paperwork?"

"I cannot give you any answer except the same as last week: nothing important has occurred. All I have been able to do is sit and wait for the next move Cesare makes. It is odd that he hasn't made his presence known in such a long time. No guard units have changed; nothing has happened. It is frustrating, because it's unlike him to sit in silence without planning something."

"Strange, and unlike him indeed, But are you sure nothing has changed? Surely there must be something, somewhere. Like a stone you haven't turned over in a garden because it's hidden in the grass." Claudia moved to behind her desk, pondering the situation. "Maybe he could be changing patrols in other parts of Rome, or plotting what to do next as we are."

"That is possible," he agreed, "have your girls had any guards that have loosened their tongues at night?"

Claudia paused for a moment, glancing outside the window to her right. "Not particularly. Just about how much they despise walking around with peasants and other repetitive complaints as any would have."

"It is unlike him to act in this way. But I shall have to keep waiting, until we find something." he sighed in defeat. Claudia decided to change the conversation as it was quickly falling to nothing.

"Ezio, could you go to the market this morning for me? I need a couple things from the vendors and I've got too much filing I need to catch up on. We can talk later, and maybe I can find something about Cesare that I may have missed." she moved to her desk, opening a drawer with a silver knob and pulling out a small folded paper. "It shouldn't take you long, and I can pay you back when you come back. Try to not kill anyone accidentally." she chuckled to herself quietly and handed him the list.

"Alright. Try not to overwork yourself; you wouldn't want to discourage off any suitors with your greying hair." Claudia squeaked at this under her breath and Ezio knew she had reacted before attempting to dodge what item Claudia had in reach.

"You pig!" A book whizzed past his head and thumped against the doors before fluttering to the ground. "If you can't treat me like a lady, I suggest you go speak to Leonardo to find a way to apologize to me. Besides, he wanted to speak with you anyway." Claudia pointed to the door and moved to pick up the fallen book. "Now leave!"

Ezio quickly left her office, knowing not to tempt his sister into throwing much more dangerous objects than a thick volume of an accounting book. From behind the doors he heard Claudia mumble a less than polite term of endearment to him under her breath before sighing. Taking her lack of appreciation for the simple jab as a signal to leave, Ezio continued on with his way to the marketplace, and remembering to stop by Leonardo's along the way.

* * *

The sun had crept inches higher into the blue sky, no longer tinting the nearby clouds in hues of orange and pink but a yellowish gold that sparkled faintly when the sun's light reached their silver linings. The smell of spiced bread mixed with other scents of foods cooking wafted into the air and led an almost tangible path to the market square. Vendor stalls stood proudly as they displayed various goods ranging from yellow-green apples to glittering jewels in handmade crafts that sold for more than their worth. More people had begun to walk on the cobblestone streets as they rose from the previous night's rest and to carry out their morning errands with an understood requirement to do so in order to complete their daily routines.

"It's good to see you again, Ezio, I haven't seen you in quite a while and it's a good thing Claudia happened to tell me you would be around today." Leonardo spoke beside him, happily humming softly under his breath as he surveyed their surroundings in search of an unexpected artistic muse to ignite the fire to his imagination. Even though he had other paintings he needed to finish, it was best letting him stretch his legs in between commissions, or so he had claimed.

"What have you been up to, Leonardo?" Ezio noticed Leonardo's childlike livelihood at the world around him with a particular sort of friendly amusement.

"Oh, this and that, working on commissions or cleaning my workshop, and finding some time to work on my own ideas. I've been busy, but not exactly busy in my favor."

"Oh?"

"Well, I've just been too conflicted with finishing any work, really. I know I need to finish my commissions and I do need to do some chores I have neglected, but I do not find time to do them because of my own lack of wanting to do so." Leonardo paused in their walk to watch a cat stalk a bird from the ground and circle a tree to find the chirping bird.

"I cannot say I disagree with you. Your mind is one that cannot focus on work that does not appeal to you. You have always had a talent for focusing on what can catch your attention for a short period of time."

Leonardo chuckled and returned to Ezio's side. "I must agree with you, amico mio. It is not my pride that I feed when I admit my own childish behaviors." They laughed at the quiet joke under their breaths, keeping their friendly humor restricted to their ears only. The rest of the walk among the beaten cobblestone path was silent, save for the quiet murmured threads of conversation between peasants of varying relations. Spices in the air grew stronger in scent the closer the two men walked to the market square, closely following the slowly building waves of voices from peasants and vendors alike.

"What have you been doing yourself, Ezio? I have not heard of your triumphs in the Order in quite some time." Ezio showed no outward expression which would have fooled the untrained eye but Leonardo was a man of art and expression was the demand of art. No art could be created without emotion, and therefore he knew how to read people, especially emotionally inert Assassins.

"I have nothing to tell you which would be helpful, Leonardo. Cesare has ceased any movement and all leads to his plans have run dry. It is a trying process, and frustrating when I am unsure of his next move. To allow him the upper hand has left me uneasy."

"Hmm," the artist murmured under his breath thoughtfully, "it is unlike Cesare to keep himself quiet. For Cesare to possess the ability to do so one would come to the thought that it is not him who is keeping secrets, but another. Cesare is a brutish man, but there may be a chance he is plotting his next moves."

"That is what I worry about, amico." Ezio shook his head, eying a patrol unit a fair distance away paying no heed to his white robes. "Cesare is dangerous even when I know of his plans, but left in the dark, I can only believe we have been left to something much worse."

"Ezio," Leonardo stopped in front of him, lowering his voice and keeping his gaze, "your preoccupation with silence is normal, especially for an Assassin. But tearing yourself apart with worry will do nothing when Cesare does act. You must remain patient, Ezio, or your chance will fly by."

Ezio followed Leonardo's averted gaze to the blue bird that had landed a distance away. Of course Leonardo would be distracted by a vividly colored creature. "I shall continue to keep my patience, Leonardo. I am aware of what may happen if I do not."

Blue eyes met Ezio's with a matching smile. "Alright, then let us forgo this talk as it makes me as restless as you. Shall we talk about something else?" The pace continued once again as their walk continued.

"Leonardo," several moments of silence later Ezio spoke with a different subject waiting on his tongue. At the call of his name the painter inclined his head in a silent acknowledgement while they passed by a guard unit clanking clumsily in their heavy metal suits reflecting their red garments and ridiculously large swords that sagged heavily on their belts. Had he wanted to, Ezio could have easily stolen and disarmed one and kill the others easily. But they did not deserve to die, yet. "Have you received any better treatment by Cesare? From what you told me from our last visit, he continues to harass you with his guards."

Leonardo stiffened in his walk, drawing himself upwards and his shoulders rigidly aligned with his neck. "I have not, Ezio. I have not seen nor heard of him for the same time you have lost any foresight of his plots."

His answer did not please Ezio. "So you have continued to allow the guards to harass you?" Before he had realized he had most assuredly said the most callous thing to his friend, Leonardo had reacted quickly to the subtle insult.

"Ezio," Leonardo stopped, but did not move from his forward-facing position, "I believe you know very well I do not 'let' Cesare and his men harass me because I lack your strength or willingness to fight." The tone in his voice had an icy edge of lost patience clipping his words short and releasing the sunshine from his expression to leave him disturbingly blank. Ezio cursed himself for his immature outburst and reminded himself with vicious vigor that he was not a teenaged boy bent on revenge. Allowing the death of his family to be an excuse for his inexcusable behavior was enough of a mistake Leonardo had known and pardoned, but to reinforce that he had not grown out of his selfish thoughts was now without reason.

"I apologize, amico. I spoke out of line." Ezio turned to him, waiting for a response. Like the clouds had parted on a rainy day, a ray of sunshine broke through Leonardo's unresponsive expression and the artist had returned to his former humor, smiling gently.

"It is of no great consequence, Ezio." A hand skilled with the muscle memory of elegant design in painting and inventing rested on the Assassin's shoulder in a reassuring manner. "Let us continue on, I am sure Claudia would not appreciate you wasting your time instead of gathering the items she asked you for."

Upon arrival, Ezio and Leonardo came to a stop as Ezio retrieved the list written in the elegant handwriting of his sister while Leonardo took the moment to tune in to the busy morning full of people crowding around vendor stalls to bargain and sell goods. The open air market was a perfect place for gathering inspiration, as it reminded Leonardo of birds when he often watched them outside his window. Each brightly colored bird twittering about, calling to their fledglings racing down the cobblestones and behind the skirted plumage of other ladies to avoid the chirp of gentle reprimand for leaving the nest too early.

Ezio began moving to the first stall. "Feel free to do as you please, amico. I will be around if you need me." Leonardo nodded a farewell and watched the white hood bob and weave into the slowly growing mass of peasants in Sunday suits and gowns. A stall with art supplies in the corner of the market near another man selling oranges caught Leonardo's eye, and the artist carefully made his way to see what he could buy on his meager pay for the day.

The morning's activities continued on with a lazy sluggishness as Ezio waited patiently at each stall for other buyers to hurry and make their purchases so he could continue on with his errands. Several times children had come running past him shrieking gleefully and almost costing him his balance while the cries of flustered mothers came from all ends of the market square.

"Stop, thief!" A piercing cry caught Ezio's attention as well as his eyes when he suddenly turned to the direction others had been facing. From what he could see, a vendor across the large square had begun waving his arms in the air as he continuously squawked like a flustered hen. No one seemed to be moving, rather watching some sort of spectacle excluded from Ezio's field of vision. Curious, he began weaving through masses of people until he reemerged from a traveling group near the vendor's stall, where the man had been pointing across the square. "Thief! Stop him! Guards, guards!"

Ezio caught the fluttering of a cape, or was it a shadow that melted into the shadows of a narrow street way. He began to pursue the shadowy being, merging in and out of stationary and moving groups in order to keep himself hidden as guards approached. Seeing as what the vendor had been pointing at had disappeared when he had a chance to closely investigate. Cursing his foul luck in a mental sigh, Ezio then searched the area for Leonardo and felt somewhat relieved to see his friend making his way toward him.

"Ezio!" the blond artist called, "it would be best not to stay. There are several guard units coming here—look! There they are!" Leonardo came to Ezio's side, pointing to the group of red that had been the first of the other two to appear beside the shouting vendor. Ezio turned to Leonardo, sensing the situation would not be resolved lightly.

"Come, Leonardo, go home, quickly. You do not want to be involved in this." Ezio spoke, attempting to coerce the artist to leave. But Leonardo remained firmly planted, his eyes on the vendor who had been surrounded by guards.

"Ezio, you mustn't let the man be abused by those guards. Please, do not let them kill him. I see the malice in their eyes and I know they will take out their anger on him." Leonardo pleaded carefully, only relaxing his tensed posture when Ezio met his eyes and gave a nod of acknowledgment.

"Go, Leonardo. I will do what I can." With that, the artist turned and disappeared into the swarm of people quickly gathering.

"What's the meaning of this?" the lead patrolman snapped to the vendor in established irritation.

"That man—the one that ran over there, yes, in the hood, he stole from me!" the vendor—donned in simple clothing of a lower middle classman complained as his fingers raked through his coarse brown hair, pointing insistently with his free hand to the area where he had seen the perpetrator vanish into the shadows. "Aren't you going to do something about it? Why are you just standing here?"

The captain appeared greatly unamused by the show of growing frustration by the vendor. "I didn't see anything. Are you just trying to cause trouble, fool?"

"No!" the vendor stamped his foot impatiently, "I saw the man with my own eyes steal from me! I had turned my back before noticing he had stolen from me!" The captain turned to his patrolmen and with a subtle nod from the two of his original group, he dismissed the other two groups. "Hey, wait! What are you doing? Why aren't you helping me?" The vendor shoved his way over to the captain through the exiting guards, thoroughly irate with the lack of respect he had been shown. Unfortunately he had gotten too close the captain, and the man donned in the clunky silver and the red garments of the Borgia did not take kindly to this.

"Get away from me, filth!" the man spat, shoving the vendor to the ground. "You dare to disrespect the name of the Borgia and blame nothing but a shadow for your own theft! Have you no shame?"

The vendor refused to submit to the brute of a man standing above him, despite his best interests. "Why do you accuse me of theft? You _figlio di puttana_—your so-called 'protection and enforcement of laws' is a scam! You are only the bastard of a brute who carries out the orders from the son of an unholy mother!" This proved to be the wrong way to proceed as the guards reacted viciously from the insults, seizing the man and beginning to land swift kicks with their steel-toed boots.

Ezio knew he was to get involved at this point, as he did not want the Borgia's guards to be allowed to walk freely with the blood of an innocent man on their shiny suits. Pushing through the mass of peasants with a rough hand, Ezio watched as the vendor took rough jabs to his abdomen and almost entirely to his ribs.

"St-stop!" the man cried angrily, swiftly silenced by another blow to his stomach. The captain ignored the man entirely and asserted his anger over the crowd.

"Now you fools, see what happens when you try to behave like this bastard! You see him weep and plead for mercy upon this ground tainted with his unworthy blood! You all see what happens when you speak so lowly of the Borgia!" the captain snarled, his hand falling to the hilt of his sword.

Ezio pushed himself further through the crowd, now fueled by the impending death of the vendor to reach him before the guard would undoubtedly behead him in front of the horrified onlookers. Finally after pushing through enough people, he had a path cleared out to where the vendor lay in wait of his deliverance to the afterlife while lying in a pool of his own blood. What would be difficult in this situation was that Ezio could not kill the guards if they remained hostile in his attempt to disperse the situation, as he was in public and did not want to attract more guards. However, the life of an innocent man was hanging in the balance. One wrong move and blood would color the cobblestones a dirty red.

"Now, watch this man pay for his sin—!" the captain snapped, shoving one foot into the moaning man's chest and pinning him down in a crushing grip.

"Why do you torture an innocent man?" Ezio called at the top of his voice, interrupting the guard while he drew his blade and pulling a veil of silence over the market square.

The guards turned to Ezio, their eyes narrowing to the same degrees of familiar hatred burning in their irises. "What is it that compels you to act so boldly? Is it the ordered death of this man that provokes you?"

"You are torturing an innocent man, yet you act boldly over such a grave act." Ezio felt the weight of many eyes upon him yet none were as heavy as the captain's. For a moment, Ezio was not in Rome anymore, but in Florence, standing as a boy of three years less than twenty with his heart breaking as his family was murdered in front of him. The soulless eyes of Uberto Alberti pierced his soul in depths of unending black that watched so carelessly as three men were killed by his hand. Such animosity almost tangible a regular man would not have believed another could have been capable of and the same Ezio had known of since his youth in a memory branded with an ugly blackened scar. Leonardo had once tried to convince Ezio that every man was a good soul underneath their exterior of sin in an attempt to comfort him at the time, but Ezio could not bring himself to agree with what Leonardo had believed. "The blood of this man will stain your hands, and you have no conscience with your willingness to spill blood without second thought."

"And just who are you?" The sword moved from the vendor's throat to point at Ezio menacingly. "Some vigilante who deludes himself into believing he is delivering the Will of God? Pah, only pathetic foolishness!"

"Leave the man alone. He has done nothing to you." Ezio stood his ground firmly to prove that he could fight back, and to continue proving that for the one day he didn't. "It will waste your time to kill him and then bury him." The captain glared into Ezio's eyes, his stance intimidating and cunning like a snake.

Silence prevailed for tense moments. Then, the verdict had been reached. "Let him go. I don't need to waste my time on such filth." the two guards appeared momentarily surprised at their captain's order, but a quick glare from him made them forgo their doubts and step away from the bleeding man. "Leave! All of you! Get out of my sight!" Peasants quickly began to scatter as the guard unit left, leaving only the abused man on the ground.

"Are you alright?" Ezio called as he approached the fallen man, kneeling beside him. The man's eyes cracked open, pain throbbing in his gaze and he slowly blinked to clear the dust from his eyes.

"Fine, fine," he mumbled, carefully pulling himself up and stubbornly refusing Ezio's outstretched hand until he nearly fell with a weak knee as a cause and Ezio had caught him and helped him back up. Reluctantly the man allowed himself to be brought back to his stall with Ezio supporting most of his weight on a knee that refused to straighten. When Ezio set him in the chair from his stall, the man continued to stare bitterly in the space in front of him instead of facing Ezio.

"What do you want? Come to mock me like those brutes?" The man snarled irritably. However his angry demeanor was broken when he pressed a hand into his bleeding side and gasped in sudden pain.

"You need a doctor." Ezio spoke calmly, "do you need me to bring you to one?" The man snapped his eyes to Ezio, fists clenched tightly.

"I don't need anything! And I don't need you to mock me like that! Leave me be!" he hissed, but soon doubled over in a second wave of agony. Ezio remained unconvinced of the man's insistence while he bled from various wounds.

"Wait here," Ezio moved back, searching out of his peripheral vision for a doctor's stand, "I will return shortly. Do not move." He left before the man began to swear at him with every curse and unholy word under the sun.

* * *

Returning with a masked doctor, Ezio allowed the medical man to work on his unwilling patient while he watched in silence. The doctor would gently prod at the tender flesh of the man's abdomen and asked where he had been injured directly which would be swiftly answered with a stinging curse before a groan and then a reluctant answer. The doctor's patience surpassed the level of patience Ezio had, as the Assassin watched the procedure and noticed how polite the doctor was despite the harsh expletives spat back at him. Even as the doctor treated the man, some frightened and curious peasants glanced for several indecisive seconds at the peculiar sight of a man in white robes guarding the man who had nearly been executed earlier. The gossip had spread like wildfire and Ezio knew it would be a small consequence to pay, but as long as his identity had not been given he was doubtful his status would change with the Borgia, although the possibility of risking a warrant for his head was always a concern.

"I have treated you to the best of my abilities, Signore." the doctor concluded, straightening his back and rested a comforting gloved hand on his patient's uninjured shoulder. "I suggest you change the bandages several times a day for the next two or three weeks, and then decrease the changings along with dosage of medicine I have provided you with. However you must bring yourself to a doctor at least twice a week for the first two weeks. Your injuries were quite severe. Had this young man not brought me here at the time he did, you could have easily succumbed to infection within days." The patient said not a word in reply, only staring into empty space in front of him.

The doctor sighed softly, turning to Ezio. "Good luck, my friend." Ezio nodded in turn, making sure the doctor had taken his payment Ezio had given to him earlier before the man retired to his stand. After watching him leave, Ezio turned back to the vendor who had remained silent.

"What was stolen from you earlier?" This caught the man's interest, and the narrowed eyes of the vendor met his. Anger still burned brightly in his gaze, but he said nothing of it.

"Why do you care?" Ezio may have had a fairly healthy tolerance level, but this man was beginning to push his patience. And he had a sister to face when he returned if he could within the time frame of the late Sunday morning instead of playing childish games with a stubborn man.

"Because I want to help you, but I need you to tell me what was stolen from you, and what the man looked like." The man gave Ezio an incredulous look with his face finally freeing itself of the rigid glare it had been fixed in to glance at Ezio and determine whether or not he was serious.

"It wasn't just a couple of oranges that bastard took. It was…" he mumbled, his voice fading as he became less sure of himself. Ezio gave him a questioning stare.

"What was it?"

The man tore his gaze away quickly; now unsure of himself and with his false front of pride in shambles. He fidgeted for several quiet moments, glancing to Ezio and then to his injuries several times before sighing in defeat and deciding to speak. "Documents. They're documents in a small chest I was entrusted to keep. It's a mistake that'll probably cost me my life for telling you this, but I'll be killed anyway because I don't have them." This instantly perked Ezio's interest, and he realized that the situation became much more serious. But he also needed to know the content of those documents that had been stolen, and why they were stolen.

"What were those documents of? Why would they be stolen?" The man narrowed his eyes again, glaring emptily at Ezio and clenching his teeth together in frustration. The anger was beginning to be reciprocated by an equally exasperated Ezio who only needed the cooperation of such an arrogant man.

"Why do you care? They're gone, and you can't get them back! And I'm not telling you a damn thing." he grumbled and refused to meet Ezio's gaze. Since he could not actually force Ezio to leave, he could only persist until the Assassin would grow irritated and leave. However, the man did not realize he was dealing with an Assassin with an almost noticeable lack of patience.

"Quit your games, and tell me what those documents are." Ezio lowered his voice as his frustration got the better of him. But an idea came to mind he couldn't pass up, and he voiced his thoughts. "What if I find the documents that were stolen, and bring them back to you? Would you tell me what they are for?"

The vendor seemed to consider this. At first, he rolled his eyes in disbelief that Ezio actually would, but when he seemed to figure out the Assassin was not attempting to joke with him, his entire demeanor changed. "Are you serious? You can get them back?"

Ezio had him now. "Sì. Only if you tell me what I need to know, starting with the documents and the man who took them. If you cooperate, I can help you."

"Alright," the man sighed, "I'll do it._ But _I won't tell you who the documents are from until you bring them back to me. Anything else I can tell you, but I can't tell you everything until you bring them back."

Ezio nodded. "Va bene. Now, tell me what those documents are for." The man began to fidget slightly.

"I'm the messenger. I have to carry them, but I don't actually know what they're for." he replied sheepishly, avoiding the gaze of Ezio. "I'm never told what they are, because my employers assume I don't need to know. It'd be nice to know, but I never got the chance. Look, all I know is that the documents are sealed in a small chest, and it can't be opened without a very specific key that the messenger, me, happens to have." The man then turned carefully, wincing in pain before pointing to a small box nearly hidden under a pile of blankets. "Bring that box to me, and I'll explain."

Ezio moved over to the aforementioned item, crouching and pulling out the box gently from the bottom of the pile before dutifully returning to the vendor. "Open it. You shall find a dagger inside with a green hilt. There's a golden snake head on the head of the hilt, and it has two jeweled eyes. That's the key. The dagger is for messengers to carry, and if I don't have it, they won't know who I am. And if I have it and no documents, they'll kill me." he swallowed uncomfortably, but watched as Ezio began to open the box but then quickly clamped his hands over the box, and unknowingly almost losing his hand from a hidden blade.

"Don't do that! Open it in secret, but not here. No one is allowed to see that knife, because you cannot trust anyone. And the people I work for have some pretty powerful enemies, meaning they have spies everywhere. Just take the box, and you will know I'm telling the truth when you see it. That knife is my life, and I'm giving it to you because I put my trust in you to get those documents." Ezio nodded, deactivating his hidden blade and placing the box in a bag of fruit he had bought for Claudia.

"And of the man who stole them?"

The man blinked, remembering the earlier events. "Oh, of course. Tall, grey hood, moved like fires from Heaven. I don't know much because I couldn't see him very well. But he did kind of look like you," Ezio paused for a moment at this, "but his hood was grey, and it was more of a cape. He wasn't wearing robes like you, either."

Somewhat relieved of the possible suspicion, Ezio nodded. "I will track the man and retrieve the documents. Do we have a deal?"

The man nodded to himself before making eye contact. "Sì, Signore. And who are you?"

Ezio didn't miss a beat. "I shall tell you when our deal is fulfilled, _Signore_."

* * *

_Hello again. Did you miss me?  
_

_Also, I am disclosing a warning for this story. It will be dark, and I mean as in themes not recommended for younger audiences. Accurate warnings will be given in each chapter when applicable. Read at your own discretion._


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